BSI Standardisation Efforts in RAS

1. BSI Standardisation Efforts in RAS WG3: Industrial WG2: Personal care JWG5: Medical WG6: Modularity Stephen Cameron Chair, BSI AMT/2 Committee on Robotics University of Oxford ISO TC299: Robots and robotic devices IEC TC62: Electrical equipment in medical practice

2. Why international standards? • Countries need to regulate their own markets to ensure products are safe • Organisational procedures simplify/allow trade between countries and can reduce environmental impact • Allows manufacturers to use one internationally accepted standard rather than many proprietary or regional ones • Standards are voluntary and do not limit/restrict any organisation in any way • But regulatory bodies, insurers, etc., may insist on them! • Allow consumers to benefit by the knowledge that state-of-the-art practices are developed/adopted for global relevancy Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

3. Early standards • Originally manufacturers produced standards, and found a need to harmonize at a national level • International harmonisation came about as exports increased Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

4. Why international standards? • Types of standards • Minimum acceptable requirements for: Safety, environment • Metrics for assessing: Safety related performance, quality performance • Guidance documents: Test procedures • Other standards: Inter-operability, terminology • Ideal: one standard, one test, one time • But there are too many bodies producing too many standards! • ISO and IEC are the two main organisations globally accepted for producing standards • Regional, national and private organisations also develop standards Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

5. ISO-IEC Basics + robotics related ISO: International Organization for Standardization (www.iso.org) • World’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards • Founded in 1947; now 163 countries as members • Published more than 19,500 ISs covering almost all aspects of technology and business • TC199: Safety of machinery • SG: Human-machine interaction • TC299: Robots and robotic devices • WG1: Vocabulary; ISO 8373 published 2012 • WG2: Personal care robot safety • WG3: Industrial robot safety • WG4: Service robots • WG6: Modularity for service robots Robots as machines Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

6. ISO-IEC Basics + robotics related IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission (www.iec.ch) • World’s leading organization for all electrical, electronic and related technology standards • Founded in 1906 • 82 members and 81 affiliates, and 12,500 experts in 1,196 groups • 6,959 publications in electro-tech • TC62: Electrical equipment in medical practice (IEC 60601 family) • SC62A: Common aspects of electrical equipment in medical practice • JWG9: Medical electrical equipment and systems using robotic technology • SC62D: Electromedical equipment • Surgery robots (Particular) • Rehabilitation robots (Particular) Robots as medical devices Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

7. Bottom-up vs Top-down standards • Standards used to be produced bottom-up; manufacturers, associations, national bodies, international • With increased ease of communication – and certainly in high-tech domains like robotics – it makes sense to go straight to international standards when one can, and this happens routinely Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

8. Manufacturer vs Researcher? • Most standards were pushed by relatively mature industries; the committees are dominated by company representatives • Not so RAS – the industries are not mature! • Instead the committees are dominated by researchers (except ISO WG3 – industrial robots) • Current robotics standards are more guidelines – statements of good practice – than prescriptions • Still important; especially when it comes to safety • Standards are arrived at by consensus • Standards can be revised or refined (after about 5 years) Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

9. Should Researchers Be Involved? • Advantages • RAS are often potentially dangerous and/or expensive; we try to help avoid mistakes early in the development process • Provides a communication channel to developers, regulators, and insurers • Disadvantages • Being prescriptive too early could stifle innovation • Unpaid! • Takes time away from writing papers • Impact… Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

10. Example • Robot Ethics • Being published by BSI as standard BS 8611 by a sub-committee of AMT/2 • Clearly not a mature technology; guideline document with lots of issues for designers to consider • Sub-committee consists of the usual engineering experts, plus some from human-interface design, philosophy… • There has been a lot of interest from the media for this one! Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

11. Gaps • International standards are still dominated by domains that are close to market • UAVs just starting to be covered ISO/TC 20/SC 16 (ACE/1//2) • ISO/TC 22/SC 39 (AUE/12) on Ergonomics are taking a look at Automated Road Vehicles • Military vehicles are generally not covered • Both are examples where standardisation paths overlap, and/or strong alternative regulatory bodies • Bodies like the IEEE, CAA, etc. will clearly have a role to play here Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V

12. Conclusions • International standards are important • Standardisation in RAS is growing, mainly as a source of good practise • Certification is related; will need test houses! • V&V is clearly tricky for an autonomous system! • We would expect there to be considerable overlap between the `autonomous’ parts of different application domains (e.g., UAVs and driverless cars) • BSI – as an experienced `neutral’ body – might be a good organisation to host the common standards Autonomous Systems: Legal/Regulatory Aspects and V&V